Book Item 101900

INTERNATIONAL
HUMAN FIFTH
RESOURCE
EDITION
MANAGEMENT
B. SEBASTIAN REICHE | ANNE-WIL HARZING | HELENE TENZER
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Equal Opportunity and 14
Diversity Management in
the Global Context
Fang Lee Cooke
Contents
1. Introduction 530
2. Equal opportunities 531
3. Diversity management 538
4. Work–life balance: Practices and discourses 547
5. Summary and conclusions 550
Discussion questions 551
Case study: Managing diversity in a
Chinese-owned multinational IT firm 551
Further reading 555
Internet resources 556
Self-assessment questions 557
References558
529
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530 International Human Resource Management
Learning objectives
After reading this chapter you will be able to:
• Understand the concepts of equal opportunity, diversity management and work–

life balance
• Understand sources of discrimination and disadvantage in workplaces
• Critically evaluate the gaps between the aspirations of equal opportunity and
diversity management and actual practices in workplaces
• Appreciate the global challenges to multinational corporations in developing and
implementing equality and diversity management strategies
Chapter outline
This chapter provides an overview of the emergence of the concepts of equal oppor-
tunity, work–life balance (WLB) and diversity management. It describes how these
concepts gain popularity as part of strategic human resource management in firms
seeking competitive advantage. It critically analyses how different societal contexts
may influence the way these notions are sensitized. It discusses how issues related to
equality, diversity and work–life balance are dealt with in workplaces.
1 Introduction
Equal opportunity (EO) and diversity management (DM) have emerged as two impor-
tant issues for academic research and corporate practice in the field of employment
and human resource management. While differences exist in the foci and arguments
of these two notions, a shared concern is the need to create a level playing field in
an inclusive workplace so that employees with different backgrounds and attributes
can exert their work efforts and seek self-development. This chapter provides an over-
view of the international context in which the ideas of equal opportunity, diversity
management and work–life balance have emerged and been debated by some as part
of strategic HRM and a potential source of competitive advantage. Different societal
contexts may influence the way these ideas are understood and managed in work-
places. Informed by primary and secondary empirical data, the chapter presents
examples from different countries to demonstrate the complexity of these issues and
challenges that multinational corporations may encounter. The chapter also examines
the extent to which firms have shifted from an EO (compliance) approach to a value-
added (business case) approach to DM.
The chapter begins with a discussion of issues related to EO in employment legis-
lation and policy at the national level, and employers’ strategy and practices at the
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Equal Opportunity and Diversity Management531
organizational level. This is followed by a section that provides an overview of the

origin of, and growing interest in, DM in people management. We examine tensions
and dilemmas that MNCs may face in managing a diverse workforce in their global
operations. The third section of the chapter presents different perspectives and cri-
tiques on the current state of WLB research and practice. WLB is a topic that is closely
related to, and often addressed as part of, DM. It is important to note that, although
not widely recognized, EO and DM are an integral part of the corporate social respon-
sibility in the form of ethical employment and HRM practices. Readers are therefore
encouraged to read this chapter in conjunction with Chapter 15, in which we will
discuss other key issues related to HRM and CSR, particularly employment ethics and
international labour standards.
2 Equal opportunities
Labour laws and government policy intervention

The term ‘equal opportunities’ is associated with employment equity legislation related
to discrimination arising from characteristics such as gender, age, ethnicity, religion,
physical ability and sexual orientation. The elimination of inequality necessitates state
intervention through legislation and affirmative action (AA) policies to provide at least
a basic level of protection in principle. Many governments have issued EO legislation
during the last 30 years, although what the term ‘equal opportunities’ means, and who
are included in the category for protection, differs across countries. The introduction
of EO legislation has often been accompanied by the introduction of AA programmes
encouraged by the state. However, the focus of and pressure for establishing EO leg-
islation and policy interventions are not the same across nations and their introduction
is often a response to the changing political, socio-economic, labour market and
employment relations environment (e.g. Casey et al., 2011; Tomlinson, 2011; Özbilgin
et al., 2012).
For example, Casey et al.’s (2011: 627) comparative study of Norway and New
Zealand on their respective approach to state intervention on gender equality showed
that the Norwegian government adopted a ‘no nonsense, no-delay approach in enact-
ing legislation to gain gender equality’, whereas the New Zealand government took a
softer approach that persistently favours ‘voluntarism and normative equality persua-
sion’. To some extent, these different approaches reflect the nuances of the political
traditions of the two nations that share much in common (also see below for examples
of other countries).
Where international bodies, such as donors and non-governmental organizations,
are involved in EO policies and actions in nation states, such efforts may be under-
mined due to a lack of local legitimacy. For example, Özbilgin et al.’s (2012) country
case study of Turkey and Pakistan on gender equality employment policy interventions
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found that transposing equal employment opportunities (EEO) initiatives from Western
countries to Muslim majority countries and across Muslim majority countries is fraught
with difficulties if they ignore due consideration of institutional and cultural condi-
tions, organizational processes and individual choices in each country. Özbilgin et al.’s
(2012: 364) study concluded that ‘employment practices are gendered in different
ways across national borders’, and that an ‘essentialist and deterministic’ approach to
gender, work and cross-national transfer of good practices does not work. This is
because ‘discourses of gender equality and the macro-national and cultural approaches
towards women’s status and roles’ in societies are distinctive, despite similar patterns
of gender disadvantages (Özbilgin et al., 2012: 364).
As mentioned above, gender equality constitutes a significant part of EO legisla-
tion, AA programmes and public debates. Unfortunately, despite the increasing
provisions of anti-discrimination legislation and espoused commitment from organiza-
tions to equality, gender inequality in various stages of the employment process
remains a salient feature in the labour market in most countries, and is more pro-
nounced in some than in others (e.g. Yukongdi and Benson, 2006; Davidson and
Burke, 2011; Tomlinson, 2011; Drolet and Mumford, 2012).
Numerous factors and reasons can contribute to the failure or only partial success
of legislative and policy interventions. Some national legal systems are impeded by
the complexity and multiplicity of employment-related laws, directive regulations and
administrative policies issued at different administrative levels. For example,
Forstenlechner et al.’s (2012) case study of a finance company in the UAE about the
success and failure of imposing a quota system to improve demographic diversity of
the workforce and employment equity found several main reasons that have led to the
normative failure of the quota system. These include competing ideologies and pri-
orities, as well as the lack of coordination and integration at various levels. Other
national legal systems lack clear enforcement channels and support through which
workers can seek to secure compliance with the law. In some cases, governments’
determination to advance social equality is compromised by competing demands from
their economic agendas.
Table 14.1 provides an overview of gender equality laws and other administrative
mechanisms adopted by the governments of four Asian countries – Japan, the Republic
of Korea (hereafter Korea), China and India – and their limited effects.
In Japan, it was reported that despite the establishment of the Equal Employment
Opportunity Law (EEOL) in 1986, the country had a much lower proportion of women
managers in government organizations than it had in its corporations in the early
1990s (Steinhoff and Tanaka, 1993). The introduction of EEOL was controversial
among the legislators, employers and the state from the outset and ‘produced few
gains in employment opportunities for women’ (Gelb, 2000: 385). There is a wide-
spread consensus among scholars in Japan that the government passed EEOL more as
a response to international pressure than as an acknowledgement of changing social
values in Japan (Gelb, 2000). EEOL has been criticized for its ‘over-reliance on voluntary
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Table 14.1 Labour and EO laws in China, India, Japan and Korea
Labour and equal opportunity

Country laws Purpose Impact
China Constitution (1954, latest version To ensure equal rights in Ineffective enforcement, little,
2004) employment between men and if any, punishment to non-
Labour Insurance Regulations of the women compliant employers
People’s Republic of China (1953) To protect married women from
Announcement on Female Workers’ being discriminated due to
Production Leave by the State Council their maternity status
(1955)
Female Employees Labour Protection
Regulations (1988)
Regulations of Prohibited Types
of Occupational Posts for Female
Employees (1990)
Law on the Protection of Women’s
Rights and Interests (1992, amended
2005)
Labour Law (1995)
Employment Promotion Law (2008)
India Constitution (1950) To guarantee women’s equal Ineffective enforcement due to

The Employees State Insurance Act rights lack of uniform civil code
(1948) Complex and restrictive laws
The Factories Act (1948) deter employers from creating
jobs in the formal sector
The Maternity Benefits Act (1961)
Equal Remuneration Act (1976)
Japan Constitution (1946) To ensure equal rights in Controversial introduction

Equal Employment Opportunity Law employment between men and Over-reliance on voluntary
(1986, amended in 1997 to take effect women compliance with little
in 1999) government enforcement
power
Limited impact on increasing
women’s employment but has
led to increased awareness
of gender inequality among
women
Korea Gender Equality in Employment Act To guarantee equality Ineffective enforcement

of 1987 between men and women in Informalization of employment
Guidelines to Eliminate Sexual employment with declined employment
Discrimination in Employment (1991) To protect women’s job terms and conditions
Labour Standards Law (1998) security on their marital status,
pregnancy, and childbirth
To allow employers to lay off
workers
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compliance’ with ‘little government enforcement power’, although it is recognized that

‘it has led to renewed efforts at litigation, increased consciousness and activism among
women, and amendments to the law, passed in 1997’ (Gelb, 2000: 385). More than two
decades after the introduction of EEOL, women’s managerial career paths with domes-
tic employers ‘remain blocked by traditional and institutional practices’ in Japan
(Bozkurt, 2012: 225).
In Korea, the Gender Equality in Employment Act of 1987 ‘stipulates that employ-
ers can be imprisoned for up to two years if they pay different wages for work of
equal value in the same business; but few, if any, employers have actually gone to jail’
(van der Meulen Rodgers, 1998: 746). By condoning employers’ discriminative prac-
tices, the state is actually ‘perpetuating gender norms and stereotypes that disadvantage
women’ (Seguino, 2000: 34). To-date, few of the top Korean firms have women in their
senior executive team (Kim, 2005), and with the exception of the catering and hotel
industry, over half of the Korean industries do not have any female managers (Cho
and Kwon, 2010).
For both Japan and Korea, affirmative action programmes have been adopted
only in the 2000s on a voluntary basis with little enforcement power. Private sector
employers have autonomy to decide whether they wish to adopt the AA programme
or not, and evidence suggests that there is little incentive for them to do so (Benson
et al., 2007).
In China, state intervention as part of its socialist campaign of gender equality dur-
ing its state planned economy period (1949–1978) had led to significant advances in
pay and social equity for female workers. As a result, China has achieved possibly
greater gender equality than industrial capitalist societies (Stockman et al., 1995). This
is in spite of persistent inequalities in recruitment and promotion, particularly in gov-
ernment organizations. However, the achievement of gender equality has been eroded
by ensuing efforts towards marketization and integration with the global economy,
partly as a result of the loosening control of the state on business affairs (Cooke and
Xiao, 2014).
Similarly, although the Constitution of India ‘allows affirmative action through
reservations in education and employment’ (Venkata Ratnam and Chandra, 1996: 85),
the enforcement of the constitutional rights of Indian women is uneven due to ‘the
lack of a uniform civil code in India’ (Ghosh and Roy, 1997: 904). Nevertheless, the
Indian courts have been considered to be playing an important role in defending
women’s rights ‘in a context where government, employers and unions largely
remained either indifferent and unconcerned, or reluctant and ineffective in address-
ing the issues of gender equality’ (Venkata Ratnam and Jain, 2002: 281). This is in
spite of the criticism that the Indian courts suffer from a number of weaknesses
including alleged corruption.
Legislation that is intended to provide an enhanced level of equality may actually
prove to be counter-productive, especially when effective enforcement remains prob-
lematic. For example, India’s labour regulations are considered to be ‘among the most
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restrictive and complex in the world’ and ‘have constrained the growth of the formal
manufacturing sector where these laws have their widest application’ (World Bank,
2006: 3). This discourages employers from creating employment with a better job
quality in the formal sector and forces millions to continue to be trapped in poor
quality jobs in the informal sector. Banning women from night shifts in India has also
led to a reduced scope of employment for women, ‘even though there is great poten-
tial for employment in information technology-related areas involving tele-work in call
centres, where round-the-clock work is the norm’ (Venkata Ratnam and Jain, 2002: 279).
Mandatory maternity leave and the requirement of breast-feeding breaks and crèches
at workplaces where the majority of workers are women are often perceived by
employers as liabilities and discourage them from employing women (Venkata Ratnam
and Jain, 2002).
The effective implementation of employment equity legislation may yield positive
psychological and employment outcomes to those who were previously disadvan-
taged. For example, in South Africa, the Constitution of South Africa (1996) and the
Employment Equity Act (1998) were introduced, through AA at workplace level, to
promote the constitutional right of equality, eliminate unfair discrimination in employ-
ment and achieve a diverse workforce broadly representative of its people. These
regulations are said to have led to positive outcomes for some employees. However,
this positive effect may simultaneously be accompanied by a higher level of turnover
or intention to quit of incumbents as a result of their improved labour market position
(e.g. Wöcke and Sutherland, 2008). Therefore, where employers’ efforts to build work-
force relationships are undermined by labour market conditions, as is the case where
employment laws are not effectively enforced, employers may have less incentive to
observe regulations and adopt EO policies that develop the psychological contract
with employees.
Employer strategy and discrimination

As we can see from the above discussion, employers play an important role in influ-
encing the level of gender (in)equality. Where firms are facing shortages of labour and
talent, they may introduce a proactive HR policy to attract and retain women workers.
Where the labour market is slack and the pressure of business competition is height-
ened, employers often adopt a labour cost reduction strategy and women tend to be
more vulnerable than men. For example, in Korea, a large proportion of Korean (mar-
ried) women have inferior employment status mainly due to discrimination based on
their marital status (Kang and Rowley, 2005). Women are more likely to be laid off by
their employer than men because of the enduring cultural norm and (mis)perception that
women are less productive than men (Patterson et al., 2013). In Japan, new opportu-
nities created for women by the EO laws in the late 1980s and early 1990s became
eroded when Japan’s economic growth ‘bubble’ burst after 1992 (Gelb, 2000). It was
‘the marginal nature of Japanese women’s employment’ used as a deliberate strategy
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by employers that reinforced the core employment system privileging men ‘during a
period of heightened international competition, reduced growth rate, a rapidly aging
workforce and the inflexible hiring and firing system’ (Kucera, 1998: 28). Similarly,
women workers in China had been selected disproportionately and laid off or forced
into early retirement during the radical downsizing that took place in the state sector
during the mid-1990s and early 2000s (Cooke, 2010).
Example 14.1 Female discrimination at Japanese, Korean

and Chinese workplaces
Employers in Japan and Korea are reported to exert pressure, albeit now more
implicitly following the introduction of EO laws in the late 1980s, persuading
women to resign when they get married and become pregnant. Age limits are
also used in recruitment and selection to screen out women (Gelb, 2000).
Although the ‘marriage bar’ is far less common in China, employers in private
and foreign-funded factories are known to impose an age limit on female work-
ers. In some ways, if the marriage bar for Japanese and Korean women aims
primarily at protecting men’s jobs and earnings, then age discrimination in China
is intended to increase labour productivity (Cooke, 2010). Since the full imple-
mentation of the Two-Child policy in 2016, recruitment discrimination against
young women, notably female university graduates, has been worsened because
employers are unwilling to bear the additional cost associated with maternity
and childcare (e.g., leave of absence during pregnancy, maternity leave, mater-
nity wage and benefits) (Cooke, 2017).
In addition to gender and race, age is another main source of labour market
discrimination. However, by comparison, age discrimination has received far less
research, policy and corporate attention than gender and race (e.g. Billett et al.,
2011; Fuertes et al., 2013). In spite of population ageing in many developed and
some developing economies and the growing pressure of staff shortage and recruit-
ment difficulties, older workers, commonly defined as those aged 45 or above,
often encounter institutionalized discrimination in selection for training and devel-
opment, promotion and displacement (e.g. Li et al., 2011; Cooke, 2012; Kunze
et al., 2013; Lazazzara et al., 2013). Drawing on experience from Australia, Billett et al.
(2011: 1248) argued that research and policy focusing on age discrimination needs to
de-emphasize ‘the term “older workers” and reconsider how human resource
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management and government policies, as well as practices by workers themselves,

might pursue longer and more productive working lives for employees aged over
45’. It is important to note that age discrimination is not restricted to older workers,
but also applies to young workers with little work experience and less human
capital. For example, specifying the age limit and minimum years of prior work
experience is a widespread practice in recruitment advertisements in China (Cooke,
2012).
While earlier studies on age discrimination tackle the issue mainly from a legal
compliance and equality perspective, a number of academic studies have now
emerged that explore the links between the age diversity of the workforce and firm
performance which may be mitigated by a number of contextual factors (also see the
next section on DM more generally). In other words, they examine the issue from a
resource-based view and strategic perspective to identify what organizational interven-
tions may be possible to improve productivity.
Example 14.2 Age diversity and productivity in Germany
A study by Kunze et al. (2013: 434) of 147 firms in Germany found that top man-
agers, especially their stereotypes with regard to older workers, are a significant
contextual factor that explains ‘if age diversity is inciting social-categorization
processes that lead to higher levels of a perceived negative age-discrimination cli-
mate’. Kunze et al. (2013: 433) also found that in organizations which carry out
diversity-related HR efforts, age diversity does not appear to ‘relate to heightened
levels of age discrimination climate and reduced levels of performance’. Backes-
Gellner and Veen’s (2013) study of age diversity and firm productivity in Germany
revealed that the benefit of age diversity outweighs the cost of managing age
diversity only in firms with innovative tasks, but not in work environments with
highly standardized routines. This is because the latter have limited opportunities
to apply new knowledge gained by the workers through interactions with col-
leagues in other age groups.
Similarly, Li et al.’s (2011) study in the Chinese context showed that a firm’s level
of market diversification influences the relationship between age diversity and firm
performance. Their study further revealed that there is a significant relationship and
positive effect between age diversity and firm profitability for firms from Western soci-
eties but not for firms from East Asian societies.
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Stop and reflect
Retaining the workforce by changing their age profile?

A call centre company in India that provides outsourcing services to its corpo-
rate clients in the UK and US is confronted with staff turnover problems. The com-
pany employs over 1000 staff, most of whom are young university graduates aged
between 22 and 28. According to the HR manager of the call centre, these young
workers want to change their jobs every one to two years in order to gain promotion
and experience working in different environments before they settle. What is the
prospect of advising the company to improve staff retention by changing its work-
force age profile? Think of a plan and discuss. Can the same idea be transferred to
other countries if the same challenge occurs?
3 Diversity management
Diversity management as a strategic HRM initiative

Since the 1990s, a complementary, or what some would call a competing, concept to
EO has emerged in the HRM literature – diversity management. The concept of man-
aging diversity has its origin in the US and emerged as an HR intervention in the
mid-1980s. It is primarily a response to the demographic changes (e.g. more immi-
grants and women) in the workplace as well as the customer base (Agocs and Burr,
1996). It is also a response to the corporate discontent with AA approaches imposed
by the US government. Organizations are searching for an alternative to broaden the
perceived narrow scope of AA legislation that focuses primarily on recruitment. DM is
seen as a way to address retention, integration and career development issues (Agocs
and Burr, 1996). The growing demands from the ethnic minority, women, older, disa-
bled, gay and lesbian groups for equal rights and the consequent human rights
legislation in the 1990s and 2000s give further impetus to the need for recognizing,
accepting and valuing individual differences at workplaces and in society more gener-
ally (Mor Barak, 2005).
The concept of DM began to be advanced in countries outside of North America
during the late 1990s. For example, Süß and Kleiner (2007) observed a sharp increase
in the use of the concept of DM in Germany since the late 1990s. In the UK, the con-
cept of managing diversity has undoubtedly become more influential since the mid/
late 1990s in part due to the demographic change of the workforce, but more so
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because DM is seen as a more comprehensive and sophisticated approach to EO

management that adds value to business. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and
Development (CIPD) defines diversity as ‘valuing everyone as an individual – valuing
people as employees, customers and clients’ (CIPD, 2006: 2).
It is suggested that the objective of DM is for organizations to increase awareness
of cultural differences, develop the ability to recognize, accept and value diversity,
minimize patterns of inequality experienced by those not in the mainstream, and
modify organizational culture and leadership practices (Cox, 1993; Soni, 2000). DM is
regarded as a better approach than EO because it adopts an inclusive approach that
‘focuses on valuing people as unique individuals rather than on group-related issues
covered by legislation’ (CIPD, 2007: 6). More recent DM literature advocates an inclu-
sive approach to managing diversity that goes beyond organizational and national
boundaries (e.g. Mor Barak, 2005).
Stop and reflect
What is an inclusive workplace?

According to Mor Barak (2005: 8), an inclusive workplace model includes the fol-
lowing features:
• values and utilizes individual and intergroup differences within its workforce
• cooperates with, and contributes to, its surrounding community
• alleviates the needs of disadvantaged groups in its wider environment
• collaborates with individuals, groups and organizations across national and
cultural boundaries.
Imagine you are the HR director of a German-owned automotive manufacturing

firm with subsidiaries and joint ventures in 57 countries in Europe, North and South
America, Asia and Africa. How would the above features help you formulate a
corporate inclusive strategy that will be meaningful to the local subsidiaries?
The transition from a focus on EO to managing diversity signals a move away from
an emphasis on procedural justice to a utilitarian approach that views DM as a means
to an end which should be managed strategically. In other words, it is a shift away
from a negative perspective emphasizing disadvantaged and discriminated staff to a
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positive and liberal perspective of celebrating and valuing the differences among all
employees and utilizing them in a creative way to benefit both the organization and
individuals (Maxwell et al., 2001). This has been advocated as being a strategic
approach to HRM informed by the resource-based view (Richard et al., 2013). At the
policy level, Özbilgin and Tatli (2011: 1247) have also observed that there is a discern-
ible trend where key actors in the EO and DM field are turning away from
‘regulation- and collectivism-oriented approaches’; instead, ‘voluntaristic and individu-
alistic discourses’ are increasingly adopted and ‘dominate the public debates on
workplace equality and diversity’ (also see Kramar, 2012).
Foster and Harris (2005) identified a number of key differences between managing
EO and DM (see Table 14.2).
Table 14.2 Key differences between managing EO and managing diversity
Equal opportunities Managing diversity
Addresses inequality through rights Promotes diversity for organizational benefits
Neutralizes individual differences Recognizes individual differences
Treats people the same Treats people differently
A narrow view of difference An inclusive view of difference
A focus on HR processes Concerns all functions of the organization
Promote assimilation Promote variety
An emphasis on procedures and regulation An emphasis on organizational objectives
Source: Foster and Harris (2005: 124)
However, the distinction between EO and DM may be far less clear in practice than
Table 14.2 implies (Foster and Harris, 2005). Organizations may find it awkward to
promote EO policies that tend to emphasize sameness and underplay differences on
the one hand, and promote diversity that aims to address individual differences on the
other. Conceptual ambiguity and confused organizational practices may create indif-
ference to EO and DM initiatives, resulting in managers and employees believing that
the latter is simply the former given a different name (Foster and Harris, 2005; Özbilgin
and Tatli, 2011).
According to the CIPD’s (2007) survey of 285 DM managers/officers in a wide
range of organizations based in the UK, only 17 per cent of survey respondents
believed that the business case was the most important driver stimulating their organ-
ization to adopt DM initiatives. There was a general feeling of lack of senior
management support among respondents and very few of the organizations participat-
ing in the survey undertook activities to mainstream diversity. Not surprisingly, there
is ‘little evidence of organizations mainstreaming diversity into operational practices
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such as marketing, product development and customer services – which is where

significant gains could be made in improving business performance’ (CIPD, 2007: 8).
In fact, despite the active promotion by Western HR consulting firms and HR associa-
tions of the moral and strategic importance of DM, legal compliance remains the top
reason for organizations implementing DM initiatives (CIPD, 2007).
A large-scale survey of global Fortune 500 companies and other global organiza-
tions revealed similar attitudes – while all respondent firms agreed on the importance
of global diversity, ‘only 50 per cent of firms surveyed reported considering global
stakeholders when determining their diversity strategies, only 39 per cent provide
extensive multicultural training for all employees, and only 27 per cent routinely
evaluate progress towards diversity goals’ (Dunavant and Heiss, 2005, cited in Nishii
and Özbilgin, 2007: 1883).
In Australia, Kramar (2012) observed that there is no common approach to DM
and that, in spite of the rhetoric of the business case in the private sector, legal
compliance appears to be the main motive for DM. Kramar (2012) further noted that
gender equality has been the main focus of DM and that there is a decline of actions
in both the public and private sector that promote changes to embrace the diversity
discourse.
Diversity management and organizational performance

In ways analogous to the arguments made for CSR, advocates of DM believe that there
are three important reasons for managing diversity (e.g. Cox and Blake, 1991; Agocs
and Burr, 1996; CIPD, 2006):
• Effective people management – DM creates an open, inclusive workplace culture

where everyone feels valued, which then helps to recruit, retain and motivate good
people. Diversity can create teams that are more innovative and flexible which may
increase their productivity and ultimately organizational performance. DM helps to
promote awareness of individual difference and empathy for those who are differ-
ent, and encourages attitude change.
• Market competition – A diverse workforce can help the organization to understand
diverse customer needs, open up new market opportunities, improve market share
and broaden its customer base.
• Corporate reputation – Adopting an effective DM policy enables organizations to
demonstrate their commitment to CSR through engagement with local communities.
Existing studies have provided evidence to support the assumption that strategic
DM can lead to enhanced HR outcomes. For example, Ng and Burke’s (2005) survey
study of 113 MBA job seekers showed that women and ethnic minorities considered
DM to be important when accepting job offers. In addition, ‘high achievers and new
immigrants rated organizations with diversity management as more attractive as
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potential employers’ (Ng and Burke, 2005: 1195). Scott et al.’s (2011) review of DM
practices of best companies suggests that organizations that emphasize inclusion and
integrate DM into all of their policies and practices may benefit more than companies
that deal with DM as a stand-alone practice. Similarly, Houkamau and Boxall’s (2011:
440) survey study of 500 New Zealand workers’ perceptions of, and responses to, DM
activities found a ‘widespread use of family-friendly employment practices and a
general perception of a good climate for diversity’. The study also found that employ-
ees who reported a higher level of family-friendly and proactive EO practices
appeared to show a high level of trust and commitment to their organization, as well
as enjoying a higher level of job satisfaction.
According to the CIPD (2007: 12), there is a wide range of measures that organiza-
tions may use to monitor the impact of DM. These include:
• employee attitude surveys

• number of complaints and grievances
• labour turnover
• employee performance appraisals
• absenteeism
• ability to recruit
• number of tribunal cases
• impact assessment
• level of customer satisfaction
• employee commitment surveys
• business performance
• balanced scorecard
• diversification of customer base
• improvements to problem solving and decision making
• psychological contract issues.
We cannot assume that a positive relationship invariably holds between diversity

and productivity improvement (also see the previous section on age diversity).
Academic studies on diversity–performance relationships have so far yielded non-
conclusive results. While some researchers argue that diversity leads to better group
and ultimately organizational performance (e.g. Cox et al., 1991), others contend that
diversity leads to a negative organizational performance outcome in part due to intra-
and inter-group conflicts and communication deadlock derived from differences (e.g.
Tsui et al., 1992; Lau and Murnighan, 1998). Moreover, there can be tensions between
a collective approach to managing diverse employee groups and a more individual-
ized approach focusing on individual needs and abilities which may actually increase,
rather than decrease, inequalities (e.g. Agocs and Burr, 1996; Liff, 1996). Jones et al.
(2013: 55) observed that the existing literature on diversity training has yielded ‘little
evidence of their overall effectiveness’. They argued that diversity training informed by
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an ethical perspective, instead of the business case approach, may be more effective
because the ethical perspective aligns the values of the organization and the employ-
ees and sends a signal to the employees that ‘the organization cares about their
wellbeing’ ( Jones et al., 2013: 55).
Other studies have revealed that the benefits of DM rhetoric can be overstated (e.g.
Williams and O’Reilly, 1998; Wise and Tsehirhart, 2000), that DM initiatives may actu-
ally undermine efforts in EO programmes (e.g. Subeliani and Tsogas, 2005), and that
DM might be adopted as a new disguise to mask exploitation (Taylor et al., 1997).
Affirmative actions associated with DM are also found to meet with disapproval from
the workforce as those recruited or promoted under AA are perceived to be less com-
petent or qualified, thus violating the principle of merit (Ng and Burke, 2005). Studies
by Kochan et al. (2003) revealed that participation in a diversity education programme
does not foster a positive relationship between racial and gender diversity and perfor-
mance. Richard et al. (2004) offered a reconciling ‘third way’ perspective which
suggests that contextual factors (e.g. entrepreneurial orientation) play an important
moderating role for diversity to enhance organizational performance.
Kochan et al. (2003: 17) further observed that practitioners paid little attention to
analysing their organizational environment for managing diversity and that few com-
panies ‘are equipped to assess the impact of their diversity efforts on their performance’.
Kochan et al. (2003) questioned whether the business case rhetoric of managing diver-
sity has run its course. Nevertheless, they contended that while we may be sceptical
about the positive impact of DM on organizational performance, diversity is a labour
market imperative as well as a societal value and expectation. Therefore, ‘managers
should do their best to translate diversity into positive organizational, group and indi-
vidual outcomes’ (Kochan et al., 2003: 18).
It is apparent that DM is a poorly understood, increasingly slippery and controver-
sial concept that is used ‘in an all-embracing fashion to include not just the social
categories of AA such as race and sex but a wide range of personal characteristics’
(Ferner et al., 2005: 309). Consequently, the concept and moral soundness of DM
remains a contentious issue (see Lorbiecki and Jack, 2000, for an overview of the
conceptual premises and critique of DM; also see van Dijk et al., 2012, for a concep-
tual debate on the virtue ethics perspective versus business case perspective of DM).
In addition, the utility of this concept originating from the US for other societal con-
texts has been questioned by many researchers and resisted on the ground when DM
policy and practice were transplanted across national and organizational context (e.g.
Agocs and Burr, 1996; Ferner et al., 2005; Healy and Oikelome, 2007; Nishii and
Özbilgin, 2007). For example, Hennekam et al.’s (2017: 459) study that examined ‘the
clash between diversity policies as designed in the West and the challenges in imple-
menting these in MNCs in the Middle East and North Africa region’ revealed that the
HR managers’ understanding of the complexity of the DM contexts and strategy is
vital. The same study accentuates the importance of adopting a sensitive approach that
takes into account local context in transplanting the DM policy and strategy from the
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West to the African subsidiaries. Similarly, Jonsen et al. (2011) argue that existing
knowledge of DM has been dominated by US-centric research studies and that future
research should look beyond North America and include more diversity themes and
forms of intervention specific to societal contexts. In the next section, we examine the
tensions and dynamics of societal patterns of diversity in different countries.
Diversity management in the global context

A number of country-specific studies have revealed unique societal contexts in which
diversity issues are embedded (see Tatli and Özbilgin, 2012, for a discussion of con-
ceptual approaches to researching DM that emphasize intersectionality and multi-level
analysis). For example, Jones et al.’s (2000) study showed that the language used to
describe diversity and the perception of diversity issues in New Zealand are markedly
different from those manifested in the dominant discourse of DM imbued with US
cultural assumptions. In African countries, politics assumes supreme importance in
DM and ethnicity dominates ‘most national debates on diversity’ as the central issue
(Healy and Oikelome, 2007: 1923). This is because some disadvantaged ethnic groups
historically have been oppressed and there are now increasing calls for radical reme-
dial action to address racial grievances. By contrast, ethnic groups in Japan and Korea
are relatively homogenous and as a result, gender, women’s marital status and their
related employment status are key sources of workforce diversity (Cooke, 2010).
In the US and UK, workforce diversity may include: gender, race, ethnicity, religion,
age, disability, immigration status, social class, political association, marital status,
parental status, sexual orientation, ex-offenders, and so on. Many of these differences
are accepted by Western societies, protected by law and acknowledged in company
policies. However, some of these characteristics may not be acceptable socially or
legally in oriental countries like China and India (Cooke and Saini, 2012). Furthermore,
significant differences may exist even within oriental countries.
Example 14.3 Different sources of diversity in

India and China
For example, caste, ethnicity, religion and gender are the main sources of diversity
in India, whereas age, gender, disability and place of origin (e.g. rural versus urban)
are the main causes of social inequality in China. India is the largest democratic
country in the world, albeit a fragile one compared to some, where the talk of
empowerment to the socially disadvantaged groups is often used as a powerful
weapon to connect political parties with their constituencies. By contrast, China is
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a socialist regime with centralized control by the communist party. Elimination of

social inequality is intended to be achieved by introducing government policies and
regulations through a top-down interventionist approach (Cooke and Saini, 2012).
Cooke and Saini’s (2012) comparative study of DM in China and India revealed that
as a strategic HRM concept, DM featured little in management discussions and
presentations, particularly in China where the concept was largely unheard of. In
addition, management’s indifferent attitude to DM may well be linked to the low
level of bargaining power possessed by the disadvantaged groups in these countries.
In many less developed countries, employment insecurity is relatively high and the
provision of social security benefits is extended to few. Large groups of poor people
are fighting for the very right to a basic living through low paid employment with long
working hours and poor conditions. The fact that they are treated unfairly is much less
of a concern for some and inequality in the workplace and in society generally is often
accepted, internalized and unchallenged due to historically deep-rooted discrimina-
tion and the evident absence of remedial prospects.
It is perhaps not surprising then that studies on DM in MNCs have found that
attempts to roll out US domestic diversity programmes globally often fail to achieve
their objectives and/or meet with strong resistance in the host country operations (e.g.
Ferner et al., 2005; Nishii and Özbilgin, 2007). This is mainly because these US-specific
programmes fail to reflect the specific demographic profile and the legal, historical,
political and cultural contexts of equality in the host countries. Many US-owned MNCs
studied in fact made little attempt to adapt their US-designed diversity programmes to
capture local characteristics (Nishii and Özbilgin, 2007). As a result, MNCs may
encounter ‘regulatory, normative and cognitive challenges’ when designing and imple-
menting their global DM initiatives (Sippola and Smale, 2007: 1895). While the
philosophy of diversity might be acceptable globally within the corporation, a more
multi-domestic approach to implementing diversity programmes has been found to be
necessary, as was revealed in Sippola and Smale’s (2007) study.
Company-based case studies of DM in various countries have further revealed the
distance between reality and the inspiration projected in DM rhetoric. For instance,
Dameron and Joffre’s (2007: 2053) study of the integration team created to manage
the post-merger integration of France Telecom Mobile and Orange UK found that the
co-existence of the French and English cultures was ‘never seen as an opportunity, a
differentiation and a source of creativity’. Rather, ‘cultural diversity was always expe-
rienced by the members of the integration team as a difficulty to overcome’ (Dameron
and Joffre, 2007: 2053). Subeliani and Tsogas’s (2005) study of managing diversity in
a large bank in the Netherlands showed that the diversity initiative was designed and
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implemented in large cities where a large ethnic market existed from which the bank
could benefit. Employees with immigrant backgrounds were mostly recruited for
lower positions, where they could be visible to customers, but promotion for them
was very difficult, if not impossible. They were trapped at the lower end of the
organizational hierarchy, with little freedom to express their cultural and religious
views. In this case of DM programme adoption, it is clear that business motives took
precedence over moral concerns.
Extant studies in various national and industrial contexts suggest that commitment
from organizational leaders is vital in the adoption of EO and DM policy and practice.
For instance, Ali and Konrad’s (2017: 440) study of 248 medium- to large-sized organ-
izations in the North American context found that ‘a gender-diverse top management
team is positively associated’ with diversity and equality management systems. By
contrast, Kirton et al.’s (2016) study of a UK-based multinational IT company showed
that despite the implementation of numerous DM initiatives, most managers have little
exposure to gender diversity in this white, male-dominant industry. They are indiffer-
ent to DM policy and hold an ‘identity-blind reasoning about managing teams’ (Kirton
et al., 2016: 334). Kirton et al. (2016) argued that managerial autonomy (e.g. team
selection) at the line management level typical of the team-based structure of the IT
industry prevents messages of DM commitment from the top leadership getting
through to the lower level, and sustains rather than bridges gender equality gaps.
Given the highly globalized nature of the IT industry and the growing offshore out-
sourcing of the IT businesses from developed to less developed countries which boast
a relatively developed IT business process outsourcing industry, such as India and
Philippines, how may the IT outsourcing client firms exercise influence to improve EO
and DM in the business process outsourcing supplier firms, if the former are under
pressure from international regulatory bodies to do so as part of the global supply
chain governance?
Emerging studies have pointed out the need for a more nuanced approach that
differentiates intra-group specificities in DM research and practice, which could have
even more complicated implications for a corporate DM strategy in an MNC context,
in part due to different national legal provisions and cultural norms. For example,
Köllen’s (2016: 1967) study of ‘the interrelation between sexual orientation diversity
management and the perceived organizational climate for gay and lesbian employees’
in the German context revealed that ‘companies including “sexual orientation” in their
diversity programs’ appear to have a ‘more supportive organizational climate for gay
men and lesbians’. The same study also found that ‘those organizational practices that
lessen the difference between homosexuality and heterosexuality within the organiza-
tion are more strongly related to positive psychological climates than those practices
that accentuate the difference’ (Köllen, 2016: 1967). Ozturk and Tatli’s (2016: 781)
study of ‘workplace experiences of transgender individuals in the UK employment
context’ revealed a range of workplace challenges experienced by this category of
employees, particularly the lack of organizational support to accommodate their
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needs. Ozturk and Tatli (2016) argued for the need to conceptually expand on how
diversity and DM should be (re)framed to provide a more sophisticated approach to
DM research and organizational strategy. In a similar vein, Mahadevan and Kilian-
Yasin (2017) challenged the narrow, stereotypical conceptualization of Muslim as the
inferior Muslim others in the international HRM literature and called for a more con-
structive reflexive approach to examining issues related to managing migrant Muslim
talents in their own individual rights instead of being a collective group.
It is clear that EO and DM challenges and potential solutions are specific to societal,
industrial, organizational and individual contexts. While few studies have researched
on these matters from a cross-country comparative angle, existing research from spe-
cific country and MNC contexts has shed light on the complexity at the conceptual,
institutional and organizational level which calls for a more critical and differentiated
approach to examining these issues and formulating effective practical interventions.
4 Work–life balance: Practices and discourses

Since the mid-1990s, work–life conflict (WLC) has become a major issue in different
parts of the world for different reasons. In Western economies, work–life issues
emerged primarily as a result of demographic changes (e.g. declining labour force and
an ageing population) and work intensification due to globalized competitive pres-
sure. In particular, the participation of women with childcare/elderly care
responsibility in part-time and increasingly full-time employment has been a major
focus of the WLC debates and policy orientation (e.g. Fleetwood, 2007; Greenhaus,
2008; Gregory and Milner, 2009; Özbilgin et al., 2012). Many governments are made
aware of the gap between the growing presence of WLC and the deficiency of insti-
tutional supports and cultural change to reduce the negative impacts. As Pocock
(2005: 202) pointed out, ‘the political case for work–life balance is increasingly evident
in industrialized countries that are more and more dependent upon the paid work
contributions of women and workers with dependants’.
Policy initiatives have been promoted by various governments to address the issue
of WLC, often as part of the EO and DM programmes, in order to enhance the well-
being of those in employment and their families. Organizations, particularly those in
the public sector and large MNCs, have also introduced a range of HR practices, such
as flexible work arrangements, partly in response to these policy initiatives (e.g. Brough
et al., 2008; Burgess and Connell, 2008; Abendroth and den Dulk, 2011). It is argued
that organizations play a central role in providing quality jobs that will not only raise
the standard of material life of the employees and their families, but also the intrinsic
rewards and psychological well-being of the workforce (Burgess and Connell, 2008).
Existing studies on work–life balance point to the fact that the adoption of WLB
initiatives does have a positive impact. For instance, Abendroth and den Dulk’s (2011)
survey study of 7867 service-sector workers in eight European countries found that
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organizational support for employee WLB satisfaction has a direct and moderating effect,
and that emotional support and instrumental support at the workplace have a comple-
mentary relationship. Similarly, Avgar et al.’s (2011) study of WLB practices and
organizational support in 172 hospitals in the UK and their direct and indirect effects on
three key stakeholders found that the greater use of WLB practices enhances outcomes
for hospitals, their employees and the patients they serve. In addition, the effective adop-
tion of WLB practices is often associated with the adoption of good HR practices. For
example, Wang and Verma’s (2012) analysis of the Workplace and Employee Survey of
3943 workplaces in Canada revealed that firms with a product leadership business strat-
egy are more likely to have WLB programmes in place than those with a cost leadership
strategy. In addition, firms that adopt WLB programmes also adopt high performance
work practices such as investment in training, employee involvement, and so forth.
Despite the strong political, social and economic case for WLB legislative interven-
tion and policy/HR initiatives, a common finding of the growing body of empirical
studies conducted in different societal contexts is that WLB policies and practices in
general have been less than effective, for various reasons (e.g. Pas et al., 2011; Xiao
and Cooke, 2012; Chou and Cheung, 2013).
Fundamental differences also exist between Western and Eastern countries in their
political ideologies, demographic and labour market characteristics, work–family values
and the resultant positions held by the government and employers towards WLC.
Typically, a laissez faire approach has been adopted in the East with no or little govern-
ment policy. The existence of WLB practices relies largely on employers’ discretion, and
the ability of individuals to demand the placement of work–life policy and practice in
the workplace. For example, according to Chou and Cheung (2013: 9), in Hong Kong
family-friendly policy as part of employment policy is predominantly voluntary and
implemented in only a few private sector organizations. Despite much policy effort to
promote family-friendly work and family values, the government adopts ‘a minimalist
market-based employer approach’ in which employers are given freedom to design and
implement their family-friendly measures based on the needs of the employees and the
feasibility and affordability of the firm. As a result, few employers have a family-friendly
policy in place. Where WLB initiatives exist in workplaces, they convey strong charac-
teristics of Eastern societal values. For instance, Chandra’s (2012) study comparing
Eastern and Western perspectives on WLB revealed that American MNCs focus on flex-
ible working practices, whereas Indian companies focus on employee welfare
programmes such as cultural, recreational, health and educational programmes (also
see Xiao and Cooke, 2012, for practices in China). In addition, sources of WLC are very
different between those employed in sweatshop and informal employment and the
professional/managerial categories – the former need to work long hours for a living
wage, the latter to gain promotion and remain in the elite middle class. Therefore, WLB
initiatives may not be well received by employees (Xiao and Cooke, 2012).
Academically, the WLB discourse and associated flexibility practices that have
emerged from the European and North American politico-socio-economic contexts
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have attracted much critique (e.g. Abendroth and den Dulk, 2011; Özbilgin et al.,
2012). For example, based on a critical review of the work–life literature through the
lens of diversity, Tatli and Özbilgin (2012: 187) pointed out that work–life studies
should go beyond the narrow analytical framework of domestic and economic life to
incorporate a wide range of demands ‘placed on an individual’s temporal, spatial, and
relational commitments in the domestic and non-domestic spheres’. They cogently
argued that issues related to life, diversity and power need to be addressed by taking
into account ‘the intersectionality of social and historical factors in their relational
complexity in order to reveal the dynamics of power, disadvantage and privilege as
they relate to the work–life interface’ (Tatli and Özbilgin, 2012: 191).
Özbilgin et al.’s (2012) argument is echoed by Pocock et al. (2012: 391), who cri-
tiqued that the literature on work–life and work–family is mostly ‘under-conceptualized’,
focuses primarily on professional and managerial workers, and largely neglects the
wider ‘terrain of work, family and community’. Pocock et al. (2012: 391) argue:
It is vital to unpack the ‘black box’ of ‘work’ in a multi-layered way, to give appropriate
weight to various sources of power, and to avoid an individualistic approach to the rec-
onciliation of work, home and community life by locating analysis in a larger social and
political context.
Drawing on Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) and Voydanoff’s (2007) theses, Pocock et al.

(2012: 405) propose a ‘socio-ecological systems’ model of work, home and community
that is attentive to four key concepts: ‘power, time, space and life stage’. According to
Pocock et al. (2012), these concepts are crucial to improve our understanding of work,
family and community outcomes, because they open up a broader macro-system
within which to examine how work, home and community exist, and interact with
and impact on each other.
Stop and reflect
Breaking the boundaries of work, home and community

Pocock et al.’s (2012) analytical framework that examines issues related to work,
home and community and their interactions through the lens of power, time, space
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(Continued)
and life stage carries profound analytical power. An implicit assumption of this
model, however, is that work, home and community of an individual worker, albeit
now examined in a broader terrain, are situated in relatively stable locales. This
may not always be the case for workers whose working site changes frequently,
such as consultants and auditors. Not only may these professional workers’ working
site change daily or weekly due to the need to perform tasks on the client’s site,
but also their rest place after work may be transient if the client’s site is far away
from home. For example, a management consultant working for a global firm based
in Europe may have to travel weekly to a different country in the continent to pro-
vide services. This exposes the consultant to different work environments and living
cultures to which he/she has to adapt. It may also create a sense of isolation and
displacement from the community due to frequent changes in dwelling as a result
of living in hotels and rental accommodation (also see Xiao and Cooke, 2012, on
the implications of external auditing work for female auditors in China). What can
the firm do to alleviate the potential negative impacts on their employees who are
required to make short trips frequently?
5 Summary and conclusions

This chapter has provided an overview of the conceptual debates concerning EO, DM
and WLB as key issues in HRM. We have examined legislation and policy initiatives
of nation states in various parts of the world to highlight the diverse societal contexts
within which these terms are to be understood and employment practices are shaped.
By comparison, gender and ethnicity have featured more prominently than other
forms of discrimination in academic research and practical publications. The com-
pound effect of gender, race, age or other demographic characteristics may be more
pronounced, as some studies have shown. In tracing the origin and the growing
research and policy attention on issues related to EO, DM and WLB, we can see a
discernible trend that the argument has been steadily shifting from an emphasis on
legal compliance and moral obligation towards a business case discourse that empha-
sizes the benefits of EO, DM and WLB on organizational performance. This may be a
dangerous shift, as discrimination of various forms and disguise still widely exist,
especially where law enforcement capacity is low and the labour market is slack.
While a key concern of employers is to maintain productivity and competitiveness,
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this goal needs to be achieved with employment ethics and corporate social respon-
sibility in mind. It is to these issues that we will turn in the next chapter.
Discussion questions
1. It is argued that there is tension between implementing EO legislation that is

informed by the notion of ‘sameness treatment’ and adopting DM programmes
that focus on individual and group characteristics. How do you think this
tension can be reconciled?
2. A US-owned software development MNC has been facing serious talent
retention problems in its subsidiary in India. The MNC has a successful DM
programme in its US operations and is intending to adopt a similar programme
in its Indian operations in an attempt to improve talent recruitment and
retention. Do you think this idea will work? If so, how would you design and
implement the initiative in order to make it effective?
3. The rapid increase of Muslim immigrants in European countries has led to
heightened racial tensions in various Western European countries. You are the
HR Director of a commercial bank in Germany. What DM policy would you
adopt to provide an inclusive workplace climate for its stakeholders (e.g.,
different categories of employees and customers)?
C ASE ST UDY
Managing diversity in a Chinese-owned multinational IT firm

Company background
Established in 1988 in Beijing, Lenovo Group Limited (formerly known as ‘Legend
Group Limited’) is the largest IT enterprise in China. Lenovo employs some 25,000
staff in all its operations in nearly 70 countries, but with the majority of employees
working in China. In 1984, with an initial capital of RMB 200,000 funded by the
Chinese Academy of Sciences, a government-funded institution, 11 researchers
formed the parent company of Lenovo. It was the first company to introduce the
concept of the home computer in China. Lenovo’s main business activities are in
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(Continued)
the sale and manufacturing of desktop computers, notebook computers, mobile

handsets, servers and printers. Lenovo is a stock-listed company, with the Chinese
government holding over a quarter of its shares.
In April 2003, the group adopted a new logo and the English brand name
‘Lenovo’, replacing the original English brand name ‘Legend’ in order to appeal to
the international market. The English company name was also officially changed
to ‘Lenovo Group Limited’ a year later. In December 2004, Lenovo spent US$1.25
billion to acquire IBM’s PC business. This was the largest cross-border acquisition
in China’s IT industry (China Business, 13 December 2004). The acquisition pro-
cess was completed in May 2005. The marriage of IBM and Lenovo created one of
the world’s largest PC powerhouses. IBM possessed strong competitive advantage
in the higher end of the customer market in its distribution channel, high quality
customer resources, which complemented that of Lenovo. The two companies have
maintained a long-term cooperative strategy since the acquisition, with Lenovo
having access to some of IBM’s key resources, such as technology, sales force,
PartnerWorld, Global Finance and IBM Credit.
The continuing expansion and globalization of Lenovo has brought a number
of challenges to its HRM function, including the alignment of corporate HR strat-
egy and DM after the acquisition of IBM’s PC business. Below are some of the
issues that illustrate the challenges.
Managing foreign employees in China

Lenovo’s growing global presence in the IT sector has in recent years attracted an
increasing number of non-Chinese citizens who wish to work in its operations in
China. This is in part because they want to spend time in China to gain wider work
experience and a deeper understanding of the country. These foreign citizens are
employed by Lenovo under the same employment conditions as those offered to
Chinese citizens. Free working meals and company-subsidized accommodation are
some of the benefits that Lenovo offers its employees. These are traditional and
typical workplace welfare provisions of Chinese firms. Under the housing scheme,
newly recruited single employees are provided dormitory accommodation. Since
housing is expensive in Beijing, this often takes the form of one bedroom shared
by a few employees of the same gender. This arrangement is normal and accept-
able to Chinese employees – Chinese students also share their dormitories in
schools and universities, and in sweatshop manufacturing plants the situation is
far worse where ten or more rural migrant workers are crowded in a room with poor
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facilities. However, foreign employees, though only very small in number compared
with the Chinese employees, find it difficult to get used to this idea because of the
lack of privacy. Lenovo (China) has no special policy to accommodate their needs.
Different management style is another source of cultural shock to foreign employ-
ees. According to an HR manager, foreign employees all emphasize their cultural
shock when they come to China. However, Lenovo (China) has not developed a
formal policy to manage these cultural shocks. This has led to the turnover of a few
of the foreign employees and the company has made no effort to retain them.
Managing Chinese graduate returnees from overseas

Since the early 2000s, an increasing number of Chinese who went abroad for their
higher education have been returning to China to seek employment and career
development. The majority of Chinese overseas graduate returnees (known as
haigui in China) are keen to work for multinational firms, and are often the favour-
ite candidates. Lenovo is among the top employers of choice for which haiguis
want to work. These repatriated Western educated and trained graduates bring
with them different life styles, perspectives and (often unrealistic) expectations
that may depart from Chinese norms. Some of them are said to be complacent and
consider themselves superior to other graduate employees who have not been
abroad for education or training. They expect high salaries up front, fast promo-
tion, flexibility and autonomy in their work. Turnover is common among haiguis
when expectations are unmet or better offers are available elsewhere. How to
recruit and manage overseas graduate returnees effectively is an important issue
for MNCs operating in China. Companies are now reportedly more cautious in
recruiting and managing these returnees because they are seen as ‘demanding’
employees who are difficult to retain. Lenovo shares some of these issues. Although
turnover has not been a major problem, how to harmonize the relationship
between haiguis and home-grown graduate employees is sometimes a challenge
for line managers.
Gender equalities
Prior to Lenovo’s acquisition of the IBM PC business unit, Lenovo had more women
at the senior management level. The proportion of women in senior management
has actually declined since the acquisition because it is now part of a bigger inter-
national operation. Two main reasons are attributed to this change. One is that
there is a lower proportion of women at senior management level in the acquired
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(Continued)
business unit of IBM than in the Chinese operation. Another reason is that Lenovo
has been through successive rounds of senior management restructuring after the
acquisition, partly to do with the post-acquisition integration and partly to do with
the poaching of senior managers among IT firms in China. Cultural clashes trig-
gered by the post-acquisition integration have led to the departure of a number of
senior managers. When new managers are recruited, they tend to bring their own
people and HR initiatives with them, which will later be displaced by their succes-
sors when those managers depart. As an HR director observed, ‘It is organizational
politics, rather than equal opportunities, that we consider in the recruitment of
senior managers. You need to be competent as well as well connected to get the
senior management’s job, and men tend to be better connected than women in
the IT sector in general.’
Developing a global diversity management strategy

According to informants from Lenovo (China), diversity is not a key issue in the
workforce in China. Therefore, it is not a priority of the company. The major task is
post-acquisition integration to align the organizational cultures and become a
truly international company. Nevertheless, Lenovo (China) does emphasize the
need for employees to respect other employees’ rights and privacy. Aggressive or
discriminatory behaviours are forbidden, even as jokes. These expectations are
written in the business conduct guidelines for employees. However, Lenovo (China)
does not have any specific equal opportunities or diversity management pro-
grammes to enforce these clauses. The acquired business unit of IBM has good HR
practices, for example, WLB and DM. These have not yet been transferred to the
Chinese operation due to staff shortages. There was a corporate initiative (stimu-
lated from the US side) about grouping women at international level together to
have a global forum to discuss diversity issues in 2006. Unfortunately, budget
constraints meant that the plan was set to one side.
The HR directors from Lenovo (US) are well aware of the challenge they face
in transferring their US-developed diversity management programme to other
branches across different countries and cultures. The US HR team are the peo-
ple who are familiar with the concept and responsible for promoting its global
diffusion, and they are approaching the task with extreme caution. This is in
part, as they admitted, due to their unfamiliarity with the local environments
in different parts of the world, although they are planning to visit Lenovo
(China) for the first time. How to accommodate the diversity of the global
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workforce and leverage it to enhance the performance of the firm on the one
hand, and how to develop a strong corporate culture that all employees will
identify with on the other hand is their main HR concern, and a solution has
yet to be found.
According to all managerial informants, the corporate priority is talent manage-
ment. A new scheme called ‘Mobility Plan’ has been implemented at the interna-
tional level. The purpose of the plan is to give managers an opportunity to work
overseas to gain international experience to be able to lead at a global level. It is
not aimed at Chinese managers in principle, but in reality has mainly involved
sending Chinese managers to the US for development.
Source: compiled by the author based on information obtained from: Lenovo com-
pany website: www.lenovo.com (accessed 14 December 2008); China Business, 13
December 2004; and interviews by the author with HR directors, senior managers
and employees of Lenovo in China and US in 2007.
Case study questions

1. What are the key issues of diversity management in this case study and how
are they manifested?
2. How would you design a global cross-cultural management policy for Lenovo,
taking into account its increasingly diverse workforce?
3. Chinese firms generally suffer from a poor image of low product quality, poor
CSR and HRM; how would you help Lenovo to attract non-Chinese talent to
work for the Company in its global operations, particularly outside China?
Further reading
Online study tool
Free downloadable PDFs of the SAGE journal articles related to this chapter are JOURNAL
available on the book’s website. Visit: ARTICLES
https://study.sagepub.com/IHRM5e > Student Resources > Chapter 14 >

SAGE journal articles
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• Cukier, W., Gagnon, S., Roach, E., Elmi, M., Yap, M. and Rodrigues, S. (2016)
‘Trade-offs and disappearing acts: Shifting societal discourses of diversity in
Canada over three decades’, The International Journal of Human Resource
Management. DOI: 10.1080/09585192.2015.1128459.
Applying Habermas’ discourse ethics framework and using the concept ‘ideal
speech situation’, this article critically examines how equity and diversity dis-
courses in Canada have been produced that shape the opportunities to emancipate
communicative actions in the public sphere. It demonstrates important trade-offs
in who is protected and promoted through the contrasting discourses, and in the
types of actors legitimizing these discourses, which ultimately shape the institu-
tional environments of organizations that inform their DM policy and practice.
• Tatli, A. and Özbilgin, M. (2012) ‘An emic approach to intersectional study of diver-
sity at work: a Bourdieuan framing’, International Journal of Management Reviews,
14(2): 180–200.
This article provides a comprehensive review of the DM literature and critiques its
predominantly etic nature. The authors propose an emic approach to researching
diversity at work, which helps identify emergent and situated categories of diversity
as embedded in a specific time and place. Drawing on Bourdieu’s theory of capitals,
they explain that relations and processes of power manifest themselves in the struggle
for and accumulation of different forms of capitals. An emphasis on intersectionality
is central to the authors’ argument and they offer a five-step research guide.
• Abendroth, A. and den Dulk, L. (2011) ‘Support for the work–life balance in
Europe: The impact of state, workplace and family support on work–life balance
satisfaction’, Work Employment & Society, 25(2): 234–256.
This article studies the relevance of different types of support for satisfaction with work–
life balance, using Esping-Andersen’s welfare regime typology as a benchmark. It focuses
particularly on the relevance of state, instrumental and emotional workplace and family
support based on a survey of 7867 service-sector workers in eight European countries.
The study examines the impact of the different support sources and found that emotional
support and instrumental support in the workplace have a complementary relationship.
Internet resources
Online study tool
WEBLINKS Visit this book’s website for direct links to the web resources listed below:
Useful weblinks
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• www.shrm.org. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) is the

world’s largest professional association devoted to HRM. Its webpages contain up-
to-date research reports, case studies, professional advice and latest publications
on a wide range of topics in HRM, including EO, DM, WLB and CSR.
• http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home.html. The United Nations Development
Programmes (UNDP) coordinates global and national efforts to integrate gender
equality and women’s empowerment into poverty reduction, democratic gover-
nance, crisis prevention and recovery, and environment and sustainable development.
The website contains statistical information on gender progress in nation states as
well as gender development initiatives, programmes and stories.
Self-assessment questions
1. What issues may arise if Lenovo (China) started to provide single-occupancy

housing arrangements for its foreign employees to accommodate their needs
for privacy while continuing to provide shared dormitories for its Chinese
employees?
2. Which of the issues of diversity management in Lenovo are concerned with
individual diversity and which are the collective-oriented diversity issues?
3. If you are a project manager of Lenovo and have to manage two groups of
graduate employees, haiguis and home-grown graduates, and some of the
former are being demanding and causing friction in the project team, how are
you going to manage this situation?
4. Is the pattern of organizational politics displayed in the power struggle at the
senior management level in Lenovo in which women are likely to be displaced
or disadvantaged unique to Lenovo?
5. How would you advise the HR team of Lenovo (US) to develop a global
diversity management programme for talent management?
Online study tool
Visit this book’s website for indicative answers to these self-assessment questions: ANSWERS

Self-assessment questions
14_REICHE_CH-14.indd 557 17/08/2018 6:17:02 PM

Video
VIDEOS
insert video wording and critical thinking questions once confirmed that this
will have SAGE Video
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INTERNATIONAL

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• Understand the concepts of equal opportunity, diversity management and work–

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organizational level. This is followed by a section that provides an overview of the

Labour laws and government policy intervention

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Labour and equal opportunity

India Constitution (1950) To guarantee women’s equal Ineffective enforcement due to

Japan Constitution (1946) To ensure equal rights in Controversial introduction

Korea Gender Equality in Employment Act To guarantee equality Ineffective enforcement

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compliance’ with ‘little government enforcement power’, although it is recognized that

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Employer strategy and discrimination

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Example 14.1 Female discrimination at Japanese, Korean

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management and government policies, as well as practices by workers themselves,

Example 14.2 Age diversity and productivity in Germany

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Stop and reflect

Retaining the workforce by changing their age profile?

Diversity management as a strategic HRM initiative

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because DM is seen as a more comprehensive and sophisticated approach to EO

Stop and reflect

What is an inclusive workplace?

Imagine you are the HR director of a German-owned automotive manufacturing

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Table 14.2 Key differences between managing EO and managing diversity

Equal opportunities Managing diversity

Addresses inequality through rights Promotes diversity for organizational benefits

Neutralizes individual differences Recognizes individual differences

Treats people the same Treats people differently

A narrow view of difference An inclusive view of difference

A focus on HR processes Concerns all functions of the organization

Promote assimilation Promote variety

An emphasis on procedures and regulation An emphasis on organizational objectives

Source: Foster and Harris (2005: 124)

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such as marketing, product development and customer services – which is where

Diversity management and organizational performance

• Effective people management – DM creates an open, inclusive workplace culture

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• employee attitude surveys

We cannot assume that a positive relationship invariably holds between diversity

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Diversity management in the global context

Example 14.3 Different sources of diversity in

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a socialist regime with centralized control by the communist party. Elimination of

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4 Work–life balance: Practices and discourses

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Drawing on Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) and Voydanoff’s (2007) theses, Pocock et al.

Stop and reflect